Never Assume
by SasuNarufan13
Summary: Kids know a lot more than you think - something Kushina quickly figures out. AU; oneshot for Naruto's birthday; slash; fluff; Kushina's and Naruto's pov; more warnings inside


**Author's note: I haven't been able to write as much as I used to with university keeping me busy, but I wanted to do something for Naruto's birthday, so here you go, a new oneshot! Which hopefully is better than I worry it is ^^;**

**Warnings: Kushina's pov; Naruto's pov at the end; alternate universe; a little smidgen of angst in the form of money troubles; established slash at the end; fluff. I think that's it. Let me know if I'm missing a warning in particular!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.**

**Dedicated to: Our personal sunshine boy, Naruto!**

**I hope you'll like it!**

* * *

**Never Assume**

"Do I have everything?" she murmured to herself, checking her list. She had the vegetables, fruit, milk, water, some soda … Oh wait, right! Naruto's reward for having such a good report card!

Immediately she turned her cart around and went straight to the aisle where they sold ramen. Her son had really improved a lot since his last report card, so she and Minato felt that deserved a nice reward. Given how crazy Naruto was about ramen, there was no better way to reward him than to get him some ramen.

Humming softly, she grabbed two cups of the ramen flavour she knew he loved the most and put them in the cart. She paused when her gaze landed on the third highest shelf where a new ramen flavour was prominently displayed. Reaching out to grab a cup – Naruto always wanted to try out the new flavours – she halted when she noticed the price tag.

Shit, that one was more expensive than she had expected. Probably because it was a new flavour and – on closer inspection – a limited one on top of that. Of course that would be priced higher than the others.

She hesitated, counting the items in her cart and doing a mental tally of the total. If she bought a cup of the new flavour, she'd go over her weekly total for the groceries. She thought about switching out one cup of Naruto's favourite flavour for the new one, which wouldn't raise the bill too much, but what if Naruto didn't like the new flavour? She and Minato had decided he could get two cups for once instead of just one, so the reward would be moot if he ended up disliking the other flavour.

The easiest thing was probably to just ignore the new flavour and go on with her shopping, but she wanted to reward her son. With how tight their budget was, getting Naruto new toys or even things in general was usually out of the question. Their clothes came from a second hand shop, as did some of the furniture and cooking utensils. They took the bus to work because a car was too expensive and their holidays consisted of going to be the beach for a day as tickets to an amusement park were too expensive.

Her son had to miss out on a lot of stuff other kids took for granted. He never complained about the fact that he couldn't get a lot of toys or that his clothes were second hand and that was why exactly she wanted to make this reward a good one. If she couldn't get him the nice toys other kids had, the least she wanted to do was get him some ramen.

Decision made, she picked a cup from the shelf and added it to the cart. She would just put away the berries she usually ate as breakfast and that would even out the bill, so that they wouldn't go over their weekly budget.

She was just on her way back to the fruit aisle when someone called out to her and she turned her head surprised. "Oh, Mikoto, doing your shopping as well?" she greeted her friend, when the dark haired woman halted her cart in front of her. Her cart was considerably more loaded than Kushina's.

"Yeah, some of Fugaku's colleagues are coming over for dinner, so I had to make an extra grocery run," Mikoto smiled, stroking a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I actually can't chat long, because I still need to go to the dry cleaner's, but I was wondering if Naruto had asked you about joining us on our trip?"

"Trip?" Kushina echoed bemused. "What trip? Naruto hasn't mentioned anything about it."

"Oh, he might have forgotten about it, that explains why Sasuke hasn't given me his answer yet," Mikoto laughed. "We're going on a skiing trip of five days in the Christmas holidays and we've invited Naruto to go with us. Itachi's taking a friend with him, so we only thought it fair if Sasuke could have his friend joining us as well. He asked Naruto and Naruto told him he had to ask you, which is of course perfectly understandable. So is he allowed to come with us?"

Kushina opened her mouth, but was interrupted by the ringing noise of a phone. Mikoto sighed and retrieved hers from her purse.

"Sorry about this," she apologised and accepted the call. "Yes, dear?" A pause as she tapped her blue painted nails against the cart. "With what are you calling now then?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

Whatever answer Fugaku gave her, made her roll her eyes. "Yes, fine, I'll stop by the store then on my way back. Don't forget we're having people over, so don't work too late, please. All right, I have to go now, love you." She ended the call with a light shake of her head. "Sorry about that, apparently Fugaku's phone died and he wants me to go pick up a new one for him. I'll have to hurry now if I want to get back home on time. Will you let me know whether Naruto can join us on our trip?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll call you," Kushina replied.

Mikoto flashed her a smile. "All right, thanks. We'll talk later!" With that she hurried down the aisle, looking a bit harried.

As Kushina continued her way to the fruit aisle, she wondered why Naruto hadn't mentioned anything about the skiing trip. Usually he couldn't shut up about the things he and Sasuke had planned, so why hadn't he mentioned anything about the trip? Especially seeing as Mikoto was waiting for an answer.

She'd have to ask him about it when he came back from school in an hour.

* * *

When Naruto finally ran out of steam and finished talking about his day, she took this pause as her chance to ask him about the trip.

"Naruto, did you forget to ask me something?" she started, cutting the last tomato and transferring the pieces to the salad bowl. Both the salad and the tomatoes had been on sale today, something which she had gratefully taken advantage of.

He cocked his head, staring at her curiously. He sat next to her on the counter, swinging his legs back and forth. "No? I showed you all my homework!" he said defensively, pouting.

She smiled amused. "I know you did, hon, but that's not what I'm asking. I'm talking about something Sasuke-kun told you to ask me?" she hinted, raising an eyebrow.

Blue eyes blinked slowly. "Nope, don't need to ask anything."

She raised the other eyebrow. "So you don't need to ask me about the skiing trip his family is going to take? The one they invited you to?" She frowned when a strange look crossed his face quickly.

He jumped off the counter and started walking away. "No, don't know about any trip," he said clipped. "Sasuke didn't tell me anything."

She grabbed his hand before he could leave the kitchen. "Naruto, I talked with Mikoto in the grocery store today," she sighed. "She told me they've invited you for their skiing trip, but that you still hadn't given an answer. Why didn't you tell me or your dad about this?"

"Because I'm not going," he muttered, staring down at the floor.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "You don't want to go with them?"

"No." He scowled before shaking off her hand. "I've got homework to do," was all he said before rushing out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

If his denial of wanting to join Sasuke and his family on their skiing trip already hadn't made her suspicious, his remark about needing to do homework would have cinched it. Naruto _never_ worked on his homework out of his own free will. It wasn't that he threw a tantrum every time and his latest report card showed he wasn't a bad student, but he needed some gentle pushing before he would start on his homework every evening.

Him talking about his homework set off loud alarm bells in her mind because that could only mean he was trying to hide something. What could be so bad about this trip that it would make Naruto prefer working on his homework instead of talking about it?

Did he and Sasuke have a fallen out? A fight so severe it made her son not want to spend any type of holiday with his best friend? Her frown deepened. She wasn't a stranger to fights between the two boys; her son had inherited her hot headedness and Sasuke wasn't one to back down either. That particular combination had led to quite some explosive fights so far – the type where they had to step in to prevent worse injuries – but they always forgave each other just as quickly.

Besides, judging by all the talking he'd done just now, he and Sasuke seemed to be getting along just fine. So if they weren't fighting, why wouldn't Naruto want to spend a holiday with Sasuke and his family? He usually couldn't wait to spend time with the other boy.

She'd talk to Naruto about it later, she decided and turned back to the counter. First she had to finish dinner.

* * *

"Naruto, why don't you want to go on a skiing trip with the Uchiha? I thought you liked spending time with them," she remarked later that evening when Naruto had just climbed into his bed.

Immediately he froze and then frowned, clenching the blanket tighter between his fingers. "I do, I just don't want to go on that trip."

She sighed and went over to him, sitting down next to him. He shuffled out of the way, his eyes downcast as he fiddled with his fingers. "I find that a bit hard to believe considering how I usually can't keep you home if you can spend time with Sasuke-kun," she said gently and he hunched his shoulders. "Can you tell me what the real reason is why you don't want to go on that trip with them? I thought you wanted to learn how to ski."

He'd been fascinated by it ever since he'd watched a skiing contest on the television two years ago. They didn't live anywhere near a ski resort, though, nor the mountains, so learning how to ski wasn't as easy as playing football or baseball.

"It's expensive," he muttered; his voice so soft she almost didn't catch his answer.

She blinked, a bit taken aback. "Expensive? What do you - "

"They're going to stay in a hotel and because they're rich, the hotel is going to be really expensive, but I know we don't have so much money and I don't want Sasuke to know that!" It all came out rushed, the words nearly blending in with each other, but Kushina had no trouble understanding it – it was after all another trait Naruto had inherited from her.

Him mentioning their financial status made her heart clench and she bit down viciously on the inside of her cheek, cursing silently. She and Minato had been so sure Naruto had no clue just how stark the difference between them and the Uchiha family was when it came to money. They never talked about money when he was around and they did their best to keep him unaware of just how little they could afford in comparison to most of his classmates.

Apparently they hadn't been careful enough.

"Sweetheart, don't worry about that," she hastened to reassure him, offering him a quick smile and tousling his hair. "If you want to go on that trip with your friend, you can go! Your dad and I will pay your share, so - "

"No, you can't," he instantly retorted, his blue eyes – so like Minato's – darkening. "I know we don't have that much money, mum."

"Naruto …" She trailed off, uncertain how to go on from here. She wanted to insist they did have enough money, but she'd also always insisted on the importance of honesty and she couldn't get herself to lie to her son. Even if she managed to convince him now, eventually he'd find out the truth and then he'd get angry at her for lying.

If she wanted honesty from him, it was only fair she was honest as well – to a certain extent of course. No way was she going to tell him their actual financial status.

"I'm sure we can work something out with Mikoto and Fugaku," she said instead, feeling confident that her friend would understand their situation. Rich they might be, but they didn't act like they were better than everyone else simply because of their financial status – far from it even.

"I don't want Sasuke to know we don't have that much money!" he insisted stubbornly. "I'm just going to tell him I can't go on the trip because we're going to see grandmother then. It's okay, mum."

The reassuring smile he gave her only made her sad – because _he_ shouldn't be the one reassuring _her_. She was the parent, he the child; if any reassurance had to go around, it should be coming from her.

The ease with how he'd come up with his lie made her wary too. It had rolled smoothly off his tongue, almost like an afterthought. As if he was used to giving that excuse.

"Naruto, honey, how many trips have you been cancelling with that excuse?"

He rolled his shoulders, looking away. "A couple," he said vaguely before turning around again and offering her another bright – but obviously fake – smile. "But it's okay, mum, really! Sasuke believes me every time!"

She had a feeling he hadn't blown off just 'a couple' of invitations. How many times had he deflected invitations because he didn't want his best friend to think they were poor? How many trips did she and Minato not know about, because Naruto hadn't wanted to make them worry about the money it'd cost?

Her son should be having fun with his best friend, not worry about how much that fun would cost. He was still just a child; worrying about money stuff was reserved for adults, not nine year old boys whose only worry should be their homework.

"If you want to go on that skiing trip, you can go," she said firmly, holding up her hand when Naruto opened his mouth to protest again. "Your dad and I will work something out with Sasuke-kun's parents, don't worry about that."

"But I don't want them to know we're not as rich as them!"

She sighed, pushing her ponytail back over her shoulder. "Naruto, Sasuke-kun's your best friend – he won't think less of you just because we earn less than his parents."

He scoffed and crossed his arms, giving her the same cynical look she saw on Tsunade's face whenever Minato wondered why she didn't try dating Jiraiya.

"Everything will be different if he knows, mum! The other kids started treating Gaara different too once they knew that he doesn't have a mum anymore and that they're poor! They called him the poor kid and the charity case! Remember!"

Oh, she remembered, all right. She grimaced, rubbing a hand over her forehead. Gaara was Naruto's other best friend. He lived with his siblings and his father in a very small apartment, and their father earnt a lot less than she and Minato did. The little family had been able to keep up appearances for quite some time – Temari and Kankuro often looked like they'd walked straight out of a fashion magazine somehow – but then word had spread about how much exactly their father was making.

The bullying had started almost immediately after that, growing to the point of actual fights. She and Minato had had to go to the principal a couple of times because Naruto had jumped to his friend's defence and had fought back. It had been one giant mess and Gaara's father had eventually elected to pull Gaara out of school and enrol him in another one.

"I remember, Naruto, but Sasuke-kun didn't bully Gaara-kun, did he?"

"That's only because Gaara's my best friend too. That and Sasuke doesn't care about the other kids," he added absently.

Well, she supposed that was true. Mikoto had often remarked at the start of their friendship that she was amazed her youngest son had finally befriended someone. Sasuke was the silent type, one who preferred the solitude of his room and his books to being social – Naruto was the only exception to that. Kushina was pretty sure Sasuke only tolerated Gaara because he was Naruto's other best friend, not because he actually liked the red haired boy.

"But Sasuke-kun is your best friend, Naruto," she reminded him. "He won't care about how much money we have. I bet he's just going to be really happy that you're going with him on the trip – you can't leave him alone with his brother and his friend, after all." She winked, the both of them knowing all too well how proficient Itachi was at annoying his little brother.

Her teasing, light tone didn't have the effect she'd hoped for. "It's too expensive," Naruto repeated and that was that.

No matter how much she tried to cajole him, to reassure him it was more than okay for him to accept the invitation, that they would work something out with the Uchiha if it came to that – Naruto refused to budge. This was one of the times she sincerely regretted him inheriting her stubbornness as well.

Damn, wasn't there anything from Minato – aside from his looks – that he'd inherited? Like his ability to be swayed by her talking – that particular trait would have been very useful to inherit.

She left him a little while later, telling him softly goodnight before flipping off the light. There was no point in continuing to argue with him about it, because he clearly wasn't about to change his mind. It was a school day tomorrow as well, so he needed his sleep.

"You don't look happy," Minato remarked when she entered their bedroom. He was changing into his pyjamas; his blue pyjama trousers already on, but his chest still bare.

She crossed the distance between them with just a couple of steps and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his shoulder; smooth skin sliding against her own when she moved her head back and forth.

"I'm not," she mumbled and sighed, feeling him shiver a bit when her warm breath hit his bare skin. "I tried to convince Naruto he should accept the Uchiha's invitation."

"And that didn't go well," he surmised; his own arms coming around her to hug her firmly, ignoring his pyjama shirt for the moment. "Did you find out why he doesn't want to go?"

"Because he's afraid of how expensive it is and he knows we can't afford the type of hotels the Uchiha _can_ afford."

It was quiet for a moment before he sighed softly. "Damn, I thought we'd been careful," he murmured, echoing her thoughts of before.

"Yeah, I thought so too. Clearly not," she said, a tad bitter.

They'd done their best to keep their son unaware of just how much juggling it took each month to pay the bills, making sure he didn't have to miss out on too much, but it had all been in vain apparently. He'd noticed more than they had assumed – she guessed that was what they got for thinking they'd been discreet enough. It was amazing how much children could pick up even when the adults in their lives tried to keep them as oblivious as possible.

Or maybe her son was just that attentive.

She smiled wryly, thinking that that was a trait he'd definitely inherited from his dad and not from her.

"I told him we'd figure out a way to pay the Uchiha back, but he doesn't want to hear about it. He's afraid Sasuke-kun won't be his friend anymore if he knows we're not in the same circle as his parents."

"Sasuke-kun doesn't seem like the type to care about that," Minato remarked thoughtfully. "Didn't he help defend Gaara-kun when that group attacked him?"

"He did," she confirmed. "But Naruto believes he only did that because Gaara-kun's a friend of Naruto."

"And given how stubborn he is, he won't believe anything else." He started slowly running his hands up and down her back, soothing the tense muscles there. "What do you want to do?"

"Naruto's been ignoring so many invitations just because he's afraid it'll cost too much – I don't want him to worry about that," she said, closing her eyes. "I know we'll have to rearrange our budget again, put off some repairs in the house we've been considering, but I want to go talk to Mikoto and Fugaku and see if we can't decide on a payment plan with them. They're not unreasonable; I'm sure they'll let us pay them back in instalments when we explain our situation. What do you think?" She peered up at him, gnawing at her lower lip.

He shrugged, smiling. "That's fine with me. I don't have a problem with that."

"I just want our son to have fun with his friend," she sighed and rested her head against his shoulder again. "I don't want him to feel like he has to miss out on things just because we don't earn that much. It'll be a bit difficult the next couple of months, but - "

"Hey, it's okay," he said, kissing her left temple. "We'll figure something out, I'm sure."

"I just want him to be happy," she muttered, almost sullenly.

"He is," Minato said confidently. "Because he has you as his mum."

That compliment warmed her and she smiled, pecking his lips. "And you as his dad. We're a team, remember?"

His blue eyes glittered. "Oh, I remember," he grinned and kissed her again, longer this time.

As they stumbled to the bed, exchanging kisses and whispering sweet nothings, she felt sure that everything would work out.

Everything else had worked out so far and with Minato supporting her, there was no reason to think otherwise. They would get Naruto his dream vacation with his best friend, one way or the other.

She had stubbornness in spades to make that happen.

* * *

Large, blue eyes stared at her. "What?"

"You and Sasuke-kun are going to spend your holidays skiing!" Kushina repeated her good news cheerfully, her husband grinning next to her.

"But it's too expensive," Naruto said numbly, appearing incredibly torn between excitement and dread.

"No, it's not," Minato assured him. "It sounded more expensive than it was, like a lot of things. We can pay your share, Naruto. It isn't that much, because Fugaku told us the trip was a gift to him from a colleague. Most of it has already been paid by that colleague; we'll just be paying for your food and drinks there."

That wasn't true, of course. Even though Fugaku tended to receive gifts from business partners, this skiing trip wasn't one of those. It was lie they had come up with in order to reassure Naruto it was okay to accept the invitation and enjoy the trip.

They had talked with Mikoto and Fugaku on Sunday, having chosen that day because Fugaku was sure to be home then, and had explained their situation. It had been a bit embarrassing to admit they weren't that well off – the Uchiha hadn't had a clue until that day; Mikoto's shocked face was rather funny now – but they had shoved their shame aside for their son.

Mikoto had immediately offered to cover all the costs, no questions asked and no payment expected, but while the offer had been really sweet, it hadn't sat well with either Kushina or Minato. They took pride in making it work every month on their own and it wouldn't have felt right to let their friends cover all the costs. That would have made Kushina only feel guilty in the mind, imagining she was some kind of parasite taking advantage of her friend's generosity.

That wasn't her. That wasn't Minato either.

So they had eventually settled on a payment plan, where they would pay off Naruto's share of the trip in instalments. With their new budget that would mean they would be able to pay back the Uchiha within four months – not too bad in Kushina's opinion.

This way Naruto would finally be able to enjoy a trip with his best friend and Kushina wouldn't feel like she was a bad mother for not being able to give her son everything he wanted.

Minato insisted she wasn't a bad mother and rationally she knew that, but … Being able to give Naruto the opportunity to join the trip made her feel better.

"I can go with Sasuke?" Naruto asked in disbelief; cautious hope starting to grow in his eyes, making them glow while his cheeks slowly filled with colour.

"Yes, you can go," she grinned, nodding. "Just as long as you promise to be careful, because the last thing we need is you breaking a leg. I really don't want you to get hurt when you should be enjoying your – umph!" She was cut off by Naruto hugging her tightly around her waist, nearly squeezing the air out of her. Oh man, he was definitely growing up with how strong his grip already felt.

"THANK YOU, MUM, DAD!" he shrieked, hugging Naruto tightly before whirling around and running out of the room. "I'M GOING TO CALL SASUKE TO TELL HIM THE NEWS!" he hollered in the hallway before he dashed outside.

"Wait, Naruto, your jacket - " she started to call out but the front door slammed close and she shook her head, ruefully smiling. "Guess I should be happy they don't live that far down the street. How much would it suck for him to get sick before he can go on his trip?"

"It would suck very much," Minato agreed, pulling her towards him. They fell down on the couch, her landing in his lap. "But I think it's safe to say that his excitement will defeat any possible germ trying to make him sick." He grinned; the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly.

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing he inherited my strong health," she hummed and poked his chest lightly. "Because if he'd inherited yours, he'd definitely be down with the flu within a week of going outside without his jacket."

He pouted. "I'm not that bad."

He looked so adorable with that mulish look on his face that she couldn't help but steal a kiss. "Sure you're not," she soothed and smirked. "But still, he's better off with my health than yours."

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly, but kissed her back when she sought out his lips again. They settled comfortably on the couch, she cuddled against his right side, his arm around her shoulders, and decided to watch a movie while waiting for their son to come back from telling his exciting news – which might take a while, but they had time. She was happy that he was happy and it made her even happier to know that she and Minato had put that happy grin on his face.

They might not have much, but they had each other and that was still the most important part.

* * *

"And done!" Naruto announced, throwing his hands in the air and swivelling his chair around.

Sasuke looked up from the book he was reading. "You made the payment?" he inquired curiously, closing the book and depositing it on the nightstand when the blond man stood up and wandered over to him.

"Yep, just now," Naruto grinned, satisfied, and crawled on the bed, shuffling forwards on his knees until he could straddle his boyfriend's lap. "Took me ten years, but I finally managed to get them their dream holiday!"

Since the moment mum had told him he could join the Uchiha on their skiing trip after all, back when he'd been nine years old, he'd been determined to find a way to thank her and dad for what they had done for him. Money had been tight for them for a long time, but his parents had gone out of their way to make sure he could enjoy a holiday with his best friend.

Amazing parents like that deserved an amazing present and he'd finally settled on the most amazing one when his mum had mentioned offhandedly once how she and dad would have loved to visit Italy and see the monuments there. She'd mused about how much fun it would have been if they'd been able to go on a honeymoon there before she'd snapped out of it and had asked him what he wanted for dinner.

It had taken four years since then, but he'd finally saved enough money to get them a stay of one week in Rome. He'd just paid and the tickets would soon arrive in his mailbox. He couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when he presented them with the tickets for their wedding anniversary!

"Granted, you've only been able to work for the past couple of years," Sasuke pointed out, looping his arms around the blond man's waist. "It's not like you could have saved that much money before that. Well, you could have." Black eyes looked at him pointedly.

The younger man huffed and rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to take your money for a gift for _my_ parents, bastard," he stressed, kneading Sasuke's shoulders absently. "It's my gift to them, so it needed to come from my money."

"Well, at least no one can accuse you of being a gold digger," Sasuke remarked amused.

"You underestimate people's stupidity then," Naruto told him gravely and cocked his head to the right. "Maybe they're right, though. Maybe I'm just waiting the right moment before taking all your money."

"Somehow I have trouble believing that," the dark haired man drawled, pulling him down by his neck to kiss him. "Seeing as you can't even take a hundred yen from my wallet without immediately asking me whether that's okay."

"I apologise for being honest," Naruto snarked, tilting his head to the left slightly when Sasuke started peppering his neck with quick kisses.

"You should, because next to you, I look positively awful," Sasuke said solemnly. "_You_ wouldn't steal your brother's keys to take a joyride with his car."

"Well, to be fair, he did fill your locker with condoms," Naruto snickered. "So really, he had it coming."

"How someone can be so honest, yet so morally ambiguous at the same time will forever astound me," Sasuke said lightly, twisting them around so he ended up on top of the blond.

Clasping his hands around Sasuke's neck, Naruto retorted, "Maybe you've corrupted me."

"Might as well further corrupt you then," Sasuke muttered and the blond's retort got swallowed up by eager lips and deft fingers unbuttoning his shirt.

He'd get back to printing off his parents' present later. Now he had far more interesting things – or rather a far more interesting _person_ – to do.

**The End**

* * *

**AN2: I hope it isn't that bad! It's been a while since I last sat down and wrote more than 1K in one evening, so I hope I haven't lost my touch too much ^^; I wanted to do something for Naruto's birthday, though, so yeah *coughs***

**Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!**

**I hope to see you all back in my future stories!**

**Cuddles**

**Melissa**

**P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.**


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